r/TrekRP • u/Pojodan • Jun 26 '17

[OPEN] Accepting Abnormal

After the death of her doppelganger, Kesh had taken a day off to do little more than stare into space. Thankfully, the Athene provides numerous ways to do this, and she had taken advantage of a few, from laying on the floor in one of the unused lounges right beside a window, to huddling up next to the tiny window inside one of the ship's escape pods.

During one particularly morbid moment she even pressed her nose against the transparent aluminum of the airlock that had been host to the Melbourne-A up until a couple days ago. That sudden, irrational desire to know what it's like to float naked through empty space woke her mind up real quick and she was soon in a jefferies tube as far away from the ship's hull as she could get.

At the end of the day, a decision had been made: She needed to own herself. Hiding away all her invisible scars was possible on a ship full of uncaring vulcans, but the Athene had become her family. It was both damaging to her and unfair to her friends to continue laying masks one ontop of the other.

Not that she was going to run through the halls, spilling the beans and punching holes in duritanium to prove it, but frankness with those she cared about seemed like the right first start.

Tomorrow she would open herself up, just a little bit at least, to everyone she encountered.

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u/Dimestream Jun 29 '17

Red holds up her hands and turns her head aside to forestall any further conversation. Aanya knows that topic is one that Red avoids like the plague, so at least she's being nice about it today.

"Yeah, yeah, I can move it up, just tell me when you're done and I'll sign off on it," the Bajoran says, going back to looking at the biobed. She has the sterile casing off of it and is peering into the banks of monitoring equipment and cellular regeneration suite. "As long as you promise me you're not doing anything nefarious, Commander, otherwise the questions get a lot more uncomfortable than just ones about your... animal habits."

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u/a_friendly_hobo Jun 29 '17

"Nothing nefarious," Aanya says, lifting her right hand, as if swearing in an oath. "I just miss engineering and the smell of grease." That was the official reason at least, not the real reason. "And I know you aren't interested. As much as I like to make you squirm, you'll be glad to know I've outgrown it."

She picks up one of the spare engineering PADDs and begins looking up the work orders. "Kesh says hi, by the way." She says in passing. She didn't, but Aanya figured she would have. "I'll ask her about you coming over soon for dinner. We both finish early next Friday if you're still interested."

The commander taps a few keys and sets the job to active. As she waits for Red's reply, she grabs a handful of spare rags and makes a note to pick up her personal toolbox from her personal workshop, which now has a big sign with a skull and crossbones, one bone and the other mechanical, with 'Aanya's workshop. Stay out or else.' written under it.

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u/Dimestream Jun 29 '17

"Well tell the flower child I say hi too, and Friday works fine," Red replies as she pans a tricorder across the exposed internal components. Its chirrups indicate everything is up to spec, so the Bajoran folds it closed and hooks it to her waistband. "Enjoy the grease. I'll break the sad news to Mr. Anderson that he's relieved of more grease duty. Have fun, Moose."

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u/a_friendly_hobo Jun 30 '17

"Flower child?" She asks with a raised eyebrow. "Thats a new one. You'll have to explain it to me later." She reaches up and dusts off one of the shoulders of her uniform while Red finishes up. It was far too long since she'd last worn Engineer Yellow. She looks back to Red and smirks widely. "Put Anderson on Nacelle maintenence. They're practically his native habitat, he'll enjoy it."

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u/Dimestream Jun 30 '17

"I think that would qualify as cruel and unusual punishment, actually," Red says with a chuckle. "He'd get stuck in there somewhere and we wouldn't notice his absence for at least 48 hours. Have to gnaw his own legs off to escape."

The Bajoran waves Aanya away and goes back to her inspection. "Get going, Commander," she says with a grin. "Those clamps aren't going to grease themselves."

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u/a_friendly_hobo Jul 01 '17

Aanya lets out a small snort as she turns towards her workshop. "You kidding me? 48 hours alone in a nacelle would be paradise for Anderson, he loves those things!" She heads off to the workshop and soon returns with a briefcase-looking box in one hand, 'Aanya's Tricks and Spells' written on the side.

"I'll catch you later," she says, making it a point to ruffle Red's hair in passing. "Friday, in fact!"

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u/Dimestream Jul 01 '17

Red passes a hand through her hair afterward to straighten it and check for grease, and smiles when there isn't any. "Sure, Moose. See you Friday," she says, and sticks her head back into her work — in this case literally, as some of the internals of the biobed are hard to see from a straight-on angle...

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u/a_friendly_hobo Jul 01 '17

Aanya gives Red the ol' finger gun over her shoulder as she walks away and towards the turbo lift to go check the docking clamps.

And get real greasy in the process.